chris_b

I think the Sadowsky bit might be responsible for a lot of your happiness.

. . . or maybe they got better!!

I made a change to Youtube settings that disabled the comments. Can't remember what that change was, but I've been comment free for a couple of years.

I know several bands that went right down hill after I left.

The original Fleetwood Mac were astoundingly good. Cream before they discovered America were brilliant. John Mayall was equally good until Mick Taylor arrived. While John Mayall's records were required ownership for a musician in the 60's not many of the bands of this era translated well on to record. Cream and FM in particular never recorded half as well as they played on a gig. IMO both Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck never sounded better than they did in the Jeff Beck Group.

If you like the sound you get with this rig you should realise that if you change either part of it you will alter the sound significantly. That won't necessarily be a bad thing but just something to be aware of. I'd be looking at one of the "super" 112's. Light, small, loud and should easily handle the tone of your valve amp.

Rebranded. As recommended by Charlie Chandler, I've had them on my basses and they are fine. If you want to go Schaller (I guess it makes sense to use one make of strap lock then your straps are interchangeable), just check that the new screw is a tight fit in the body.

Allparts Strap Locks are re-branded Dunlops, at half the price.

The one thing I think is pretty pointless, is to take an amp and expect it to, or try to make it, sound like a totally different amp.

Every gear post should start with IMO or IME. Chopthebass made it clear that his was a personal opinion. His opinion is actually based on experience, which isn't always the case on the internet. If enough "personal opinions" are heading one way then maybe that is cause to investigate further.

Yep. That's why we need to see the "second wave" reviews. The guys who are after a good amp rather than the latest amp.

True. I've met Chopthebass, bought an Epifani cab off him, so I know he's got good ears, but opinions are personal and that's all. Reviews on Talkbass include "beautiful", " as good or better than any other Mesa head", "The WD can do a lot, tons of tones to be found in it", "WD800 sounded and felt thunderous". The opinions keep coming. No amp or cab will have 100% positive reviews, but so far Chopthebass is unique in that he's posted the only non-positive review I've seen.

What does that mean?

I'm only 5 mins in, but so far, what a great start to the show.

IMO this is the problem with combos. If you are happy with, say, the amp and want to upgrade the cab you have to upgrade everything, which is more expensive. Get separates and only upgrade the part you want to change.

I would keep your basses. I don't know them but IMO you can benefit more by upgrading the combo. Is it a 112 or 115? £600 is a tight budget for a new rig, so my first option is suggest a second cab, similar to the driver you have in the combo. That will give you a similar sound to what you already have but better and much louder, with more body to the tone. If you are serious about "the next level" then you need to add to that budget. I'd suggest a 500 watt amp and a good 212.

For me, bass gear in order of importance is bass, cabs then amps. The bass is what I'm personally connected to. As the most important piece of the signal-chain is me, making me play better is what a better bass will do. As long as I'm playing well I can "carry" any issues with gear or sound. The cabs are my interface with the audience. Everything else in the signal chain can be good or bad but if the cab is bad then nothing sounds good. IMO amps are the least important part of the chain. These days most amps are built to a standard that won't make anyone sound bad. I haven't yet heard an amp that I couldn't get a reasonable sound out of.

Mesa won't sell directly to the public. They sell though a network of dealerships and retailers. Mesa Hollywood will be a retailer.

No it probably will not. Warranties are usually handled by the dealer/distributor. So you'll have to send it back to the dealer you bought it from.

Jeezz. . . . there's some arrogant twaddle being posted on this thread. Do any of you know what this guy does or has done? Obviously he has a Youtube channel, but what else? (cue lots of internet searches!) He is plainly an excellent player, with superior technical ability. That isn't magicked out of thin air, so he's paid he dues in one way or another. So with no knowledge of the guy and not knowing what else he does, you feel you can make unrealistic assumptions, negative comments and pronounce this guy as unworthy. Listen to yourselves!!

There is always new stuff to learn and better ways of doing things. I'm going to Ian King. I just asked him to get me out of the rut I've been in for so long, to expand my horizons and teach me new ways of thinking. He opens the door, then it's down to me to walk through. It's all going very well.

2018 hasn't been a busy gear year. I bought my Thunderfunk back, bought a Barefaced Two10 and 2 sets of NYXL strings. All good stuff, but the best thing I spent money on this year was lessons. I haven't bought anything I would describe as less than great for about 5 years.

Only in your opinion. That this video has over 10 million views would seem to indicates this guy certainly does have an audience, and it's more people that have been bothered to listed to any of us!

A healthy and happy family. More bloody gigs! And the discovery of a chocolate that doesn't make you fat.

Every thing they do just oozes fun.